“For an ordinary individual, the best thing you already have should be your measuring stick.” What happens next is one of the most critical but widely overlooked secrets to increasing the value of a portfolio. “If the new thing you are considering purchasing is not better than what you already know is available,” says Charlie, “then it hasn’t met your threshold. This screens out 99 percent of what you see.”55 You already have at your disposal, with what you now own, an economic benchmark—a measuring stick. You can define your own personal economic benchmark in several different ways:
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